Pen or pencil holders for use in conjunction with loose-leaf ring binders, such as 3-ring binders, are known in the art. These holders allow the user to keep a pen or pencil in a convenient location and readily available for use. Preferably, the holder is held in place by the rings of the binder in which it is installed and may be removed from the binder when convenient;.
Schade U.S. Pat. No. 2,160,392 and Vernon U.S. Pat. No. 2,184,823 disclose pencil holders which are held in place using a single ring of a ring binder. These pencil holders are constructed of sheet metal.
Prillaman U.S. Pat. No. 2,704,077 discloses a pen and pencil holder which is also held in place in a ring binder by a single ring. The Prillaman pen and pencil holder has an elastic retainer that surrounds the holder and secures the pen or pencil.
Caputi U.S. Pat. No. 3,126,891 discloses an article holder for use with a loose-leaf notebook which has a series of depressions formed in a panel. The articles, such as pens or pencils, are pressed into the depressions and snap into place due to the fact that the depressions are more than semicircular in cross-section.
Aronson U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,660 discloses a container for marking instruments which may be attached to a notebook page for placement in a ring type binder. The container has two strips of material, each having a series of truncated, semiconical, open-ended pockets. The pockets are arranged such that one end of a marking instrument is held in a pocket of the first strip and a second end of the marking instrument is held between two pockets of the second strip.
Woodhouse U.S. Pat. No. 1,346,393 discloses a pen or pencil clip which has a cylindrically shaped portion for holding a pen or pencil at one side of the clip, and a clamping portion at a second side of the clip. The clamping portion is adapted to attach to a memoranda pad or the like.
Crook, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 1,467,534 discloses a ruler adapted to be held in a loose leaf binder having two leaf retaining members. The ruler has a series of holes and a slot which allows the ruler to be used in binders having differing spacing between the leaf retaining members.
Today there is a wide variety of types and sizes of loose-leaf ring binders. These binders are often used as notebooks, address books and/or calendars. In particular, there are variations in the spacing between the rings of these binders. In addition, pens and pencils come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Thus, despite the foregoing devices, there is a need for a pen and pencil holder which is capable of being used in a variety of types of loose-leaf ring binders. There is also a need for a pen and pencil holder which can accommodate a variety of sizes of pens and pencils and which can securely hold pens and pencils having varying cross-sectional geometries.